The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1887-04-08
HoWWB PLAYED WORD STORIES"
Verbal Investigation n Pleasant and
Profitable Pastime.


Most words have a story Of their
own, sometimes quite romantic one,
often philosOphic, always suggestive;
frequently taking the ono who would
explore for himself away down deep into
the roots OF things. writes Amanda 3.
Harris in Wide Awake.
To trace them. follow them up, look
into the derivations and combinations.
hunt up the compounds and collaterals
and find out incidents about them is a
study absolutely inexhaustible; and that
it may become pleasant pastime you
shall see.
Our company was made up Of two
elderly persons, several in the sophomore
class, from the college close by, and
three high school girls.
The elders had the advantage OF much
reading and experience, but the others
had something quite as available, for
they were fresh from their Latin. Ger
man and French; and the proposition,
by the by. came from one Of these
young damsels who thought there was
romance enough about language TO make
it worth while to look into it.
Our chief tools were two big dictiOn-
aries tunabridgedJ: and some modern
school books were resOrted to as helps
We began alphabetically, and for our
first experiment if l may call it so) sell
ected words beginning with A.
OF course picturesque words were
chosen, not dry adverbS or propositions
or such as nothing special could be
made of; and the plan was TO
find out everything possible about the
special word he or she had picked out
what it was derived from, and any in
cidents connected with it, including the
reading of any poem or quotation
from the poets where it was especially
the subject.
You will at once perceive that this
brought into exercise not only research
but the critical, discriminating faculties
and that the horizon widened and
widened as we went on, and that
we found ourselves in the very best
company.
Now for an illustration, let me tell you
a little about the experience with the
letter c. The list brought in was one Of
the most picturesque; and at one word
the fir~t-we were away back in the
region Of romance and poesy, of history
and tyranny.
The list began with curfow. and the
one who had chosen it immcdiat ely
cave the derivation and explained what
the cOuVrc-fcu was an immense
bowl-shapcd cover with onc-third cut
out. oruumcutcd and with a handle; ju
fact, an elaborate fender, shutting over
the fire and almost enclosing it u
give her own words.
Then the story Of the Norman tyranny
over the SaNOuS was told, and in five
minutes every one was on the alert to
tell something about the curfev.
whereupOn one enthusiastic girl cried
out:
" Oh, life is not long enough to
learn all one wants to; isn't this
delicious ~
You see this one word '.curfew
means and comprchcnds so much that
all the other wOrd5 were for the time
being left out in the cold, as the most
r0gui~h of the SOVhomorcs said. You
would have thought those youths and
mHidcuS had discovered u gold mine all
Of a sudden. 1t was a perfect treasure
house of things poetic and romantic
that wOr |.
They read the meaning in Webster:
they read it in Worcester; they made it
out to he from the Norman French; they
produced a dilapidated JOhu-on's die
tiouary OF NDCCLN., and read the
venerable Dr. SamucIS definition: they
went to the history Of England to sec
when the order to put out the lights aud
fires was fir-t enforced. and when in the
reign of William Rufus the curlrw was
abolished: one OF the sophouur.,S. VINO
was law Hedgliu2, quoted Blacks one
on the subject, and the fair -u--,cStor of
the word referred us to the tHi.d CiiaP-
ter Of e IvHuhOe Recommending us to
read that romance afreSh, ana so setting
us all aCOg to renew our acquaintance
with the Wavcrlcy Novels. and then,
having come prepared, She quoted Mil
tons lines in - II Pcu-erOso
Oft on a plat OF rising ground
| hear the far off curfew sound.
and the verse in Gray's Elcgy, finishing
her part by repeating the familiar
q. Curfew must not ring tonight"
We'll done for curfew,' said the
eldest of the elders, that is good
beginning
The other words We're candidate. Golf,
cur, coin, cup-hearer, chri-m-loSiu-.
croquct. Christmas. Volumes o. matter
at that rate Of choice was the Uuaui-
nous opinion.
What was to become Of the G. family
il here was a sample? Above all
where would the rest of the alphabet
find a Chauce2